Category: Large Family Logistics

Hey friends! Here we are live streaming church from 🇨🇦. What a blessing to be able to follow whats going on back home and feel like we haven’t missed out on anything. We usually do home church if we are going to miss church service. Sometimes it’s a lot of work gather our own work and pick out a message to teach the kids. Best thing about home church is that we get to face each other as we are sitting on our comfy couches, and pick our own songs so that Daddy can play them on the guitar. We have building blocks close by to entertain the youngest while they’re sitting and learning how to be quiet. Church is a process no matter where we are. We believe in a family integrated style of church so that our children are worshipping with us and listening to the same message as we are. We have been doing Church this way for a long time so our four oldest at home right now (12,10,9,7) could probably run church without us. Our four-year-old still has lots of wiggles but can usually make it to the end with a bathroom break and some snuggles. Our 2 year old is a pretty calm child and can usually match the four-year-old and maybe even sit longer because he is still in diapers.

Usually when we go to our church in town someone will come up to us at the end of service and tell us how amazed they are at how well our children sit and listen. When they tell us that their kids could never do that I always tell them that I believe they can. Most kids these days are not homeschooled like ours are and are already taught to sit quietly in school so why not sit in a church service that is only an hour long?

Really, it comes down to some training and a little patience. To try this on your own, Start out with a few minutes, expect no more, but go longer if your child is quiet. Smile at them and use hush tones to correct them when they get antsy. Be prepared to remove them swiftly if they can’t be quiet so as not to disrupt church for the others. Keep trying every week and try to go a little longer. Sometimes an incentive works but I would leave it as an incentive and not an expectation. I sometimes offer chewing gum to the kids if they have done well after church. I don’t bribe them before hand, I just offer it and say this is for a job 👍 well done. Try it and see all the sweet memories you will have of your family worshipping together.

There is something so sweet and special about a genuine love from the Father. I can see it in my children’s faces when they get a warm scruffy kiss from daddy or tossed into the pool for fun or told that something they just attempted was really dumb. Yes, our children can attempt dumb things sometimes, like throwing baseballs towards glass windows because their sisters are standing on balconies trying to catch their pitches.

I remember once when we were staying at a condo in Montreal one of my four children under four years old decided to fix the sound of that the toilet was making. They lifted up the lid of the tank and dropped it on the floor and it broke.

We went to a local hardware store and could not find a tank lid to match the toilet so we had to buy a whole new toilet and install it. It’s a good thing that daddy is handy. (Reminds me of hilarious saying he always tells our boys : it goes like this ” if they don’t find you handsome they better find you handy “) Our kids have put us in lots of awkward situations but whenever daddy is around he handles it in stride with an even temper and maintaining a loving way of correction with them. He is so good at not yelling and being able to correct them with seriousness yet loving kindness. They respect him and adore him.

I have also seen the effects of a divorced mostly non existent Dad in my own life. I did not respect my Dad and really struggled with loving him. I was not guided the way my children are here in front of my eyes. Without knowing it I searched for that love and tried to fill that void. I thought men were stupid, replaceable and temporary. The problem was that without knowing the love of a father I was self destructing. Well I found that love from God and I know that the main reason my hubby is a GREAT Dad is that he knows the Father too. Through his word we know the heart of Jesus and the love ❤️ He has for us and we learn how to love others. We aren’t perfect, that’s normal, but we try.

If your story is similar to mine, please reach out to someone who knows Jesus and talk to them about the love they have found so they can share it with you. You are loved by a Father in heaven ,greater than any father on earth whether you know it or not. You have nothing to lose🤷🏻‍♀️

Over the course of the Holidays I found myself in stores more than usual, which is pretty understandable. While buying gifts for my kids and husband, certain topics seemed to arise between myself and whoever the sales clerk happened to be that day. They would often ask leading questions to see if they could better understand my needs as a buyer such as “who is this for ….and how old are they, etc. I was asked if I had children and how many etc. So I asked the question back. The sales clerk looked me in the eye and said” no, I never want kids.” I asked her if she didn’t want them because she didn’t like kids. She said “My reason is bigger than that. I feel like I would lose myself” She seemed pretty proud of herself in the way she responded . In a way she is right , you do lose yourself some what.

I spoke the truth that day. I’m not always so bold but I replied ” yes, you will lose yourself but you will find a new self”. She was shocked and said nothing further so neither did I.

I am not my old self , I am a person called Mama who loves with a mama bear love I never knew before I had a child. I put my little tribe before myself and their needs before mine continuously. I care deeply that they feel loved and secure and that they have all their needs met by a Mama and Daddy that love them sacrificially. I am a better person than I was because I learned what it takes to be a Mom, and what it takes to have to stay up all night with sick kids, how to be by their side as they learn how to read, how to plead with God as they have an emergency operation, how to comfort a teen that’s really down on himself, teach them about the Jesus and countless other things. Lose yourself dear Mother and be glad that you are not lost but changed into somethIng beautiful.